Conor McCarthy said that he felt the encouragement from Gavin Gunning has really lifted Swindon Town since he took interim charge.

The Irish defender made his debut for Swindon during their 2-0 victory over Bradford City with Charlie Austin and Dawson Devoy netting the goals to get Town off the mark in 2024.

McCarthy said that he had been watching Town since December and felt that Gunning helped to restore the confidence that had been missing before.

He said: “I came down in early December and caught a few games and the club was in a bad run of form, you could see the confidence was drained.

“Credit to the management staff, they really put that confidence into us this week, they said ‘we have got good players in the changing room, go out and show it’ and I think we did that today.

“Everyone likes hearing that they are a good player, obviously not too often because you can get big-headed but every now and again it is nice to hear.

“When it is doom and gloom, you will fans on your back, family on your back, and friends on your back.

“But the manager has been really good, and he has really put that confidence into us, but it is just a good start, talk is cheap, we have to do it on the pitch and we will be doing that.

“I am one player, and one player is not going to make a massive difference, but I could see when the team was struggling where I could add value.

“Being defensively solid and making sure the lads around me know their jobs and maybe that comes with experience, so coming in with some fresh eyes was probably a good thing.”

McCarthy came straight in to start alongside Frazer Blake-Tracy in the middle of the back four and helped lead Swindon to their first clean sheet in 106 days.

He said: “I really enjoyed playing with Frazer today, he has got a lot of experience at this level and if I can take any tips or tricks from him then it will only add to my game in the future.

“When Gav came in he wanted us to be solid and I thought we were really solid today, I am not sure how long it has been since the club kept a clean sheet, so to do that was really pleasing.”